CHAPTER 6: The First Morning

I woke to sunlight streaming through unfamiliar windows and the feeling of being watched.

My eyes snapped open, finding Caspian propped on one elbow beside me, his silver eyes tracking every breath I took.

"Creepy. How long have you been staring at me?" I asked, my voice rough from sleep.

"Three hours." No shame anywhere in his voice. "You were restless. Nightmares. I wanted to make sure you were okay without waking you up."

Through the bond, I felt his concern — genuine, deep, laced with that obsessive need to protect that seemed to define everything he did.

"I'm fine." I started to sit up and immediately regretted it.

Big mistake. Every muscle in my body screamed. The venom had finished integrating overnight, and apparently the process left me feeling like I'd been hit by a truck.

"Easy." Caspian's hand pressed against my shoulder, keeping me down. "Your body's still adjusting to the venom. Give it a minute."

"How long does this last?"

"Day or two, maybe. Then you'll feel better than you ever have in your life." His thumb traced lazy circles on my collarbone. "Stronger. Faster. All that good stuff."

I focused on the bond, trying to separate his emotions from mine. It was weird — feeling his satisfaction at having me here, safe in his bed. The pride he took in the bite mark on my neck. And underneath all of it, hunger.

Not for food.

"You're thinking about fucking me," I said.

His smile was slow and dangerous. "I'm always thinking about fucking you. The bond makes it worse. Knowing you're mine, feeling your body against mine, smelling your scent on my sheets — " His hand slid down to cup my breast through the thin shirt he'd dressed me in after the shower. "It takes everything I have not to fuck you again right now."

Heat flooded through me despite the soreness. "The venom — "

"Is done integrating. You're healed enough." His thumb circled my nipple through the shirt he wore me. "And I can feel your arousal through the bond. You want this as much as I do."

He wasn't wrong. I could feel it through our connection — this constant pull toward each other that felt almost chemical. And my body was responding despite being sore, despite everything that happened yesterday, despite the fact that we'd basically just met.

"This is insane."

"This is the bond." He pushed the shirt I was wearing up slowly, exposing my stomach, then higher. "You're going to want to get used to it, because it's permanent."

His mouth found my breast and I arched into him without thinking.

Everything felt more intense than it should — like my nerve endings were turned up too high. His tongue circled my nipple and I felt the pleasure twice over. Once from what he was doing, and again through the bond as he experienced what I was feeling.

The sensation was more intense than it should have been — every nerve ending still hypersensitive from the venom. His tongue circled, teeth grazing, and I felt my own pleasure doubled through the bond as he experienced what he was doing to me.

"Jesus," he groaned against my skin. "Feeling what you feel is fucking addictive."

His hand slid between my legs and found me already wet.

"No underwear." He sounded pleased with himself. "Good girl."

"You didn't give me any — "

"I know." He pushed two fingers inside me, and we both gasped at the sensation. "I want easy access. Always. You don't wear anything under your clothes unless I specifically say otherwise. Understood?"

I should've told him to go to hell. Should've said he couldn't dictate what I wore.

Instead I heard myself say, "Understood."

"Good girl." His fingers worked deeper, thumb finding my clit. "Now come for me. I want to feel it on my fingers."

The orgasm built fast — faster than it ever had before. The bond amplified everything until I couldn't tell where my pleasure ended and his began. When I came, Caspian made this rough sound in his throat like he'd felt it as intensely as I had.

"Fuck, that's beautiful." He pulled his fingers out. "And that was just the warmup."

He settled between my legs, his cock hard and ready, that silver piercing catching the morning light.

"Wait." I pressed my hand against his chest. "Yesterday you killed ten people. Shouldn't you like... process that or something?"

His expression went cold. "What's there to process? They threatened you. I eliminated the threat. End of story."

"But — "

"Rielle." He caught my hand, held it over his heart. "I've been alive for over two hundred years. I've killed more people than you've probably met. It doesn't haunt me. It doesn't keep me up at night. It's just what I do to protect what's mine."

Through the bond, I felt the truth of it. No guilt. No remorse. Just absolute certainty that his actions were justified.

"That should scare me," I said quietly.

"But it doesn't." His smile returned. "Because part of you understands. Part of you is glad I killed them. Glad they're gone. Glad you're safe."

He was right. And that scared me more than his lack of remorse.

"Now," Caspian said, positioning himself at my entrance. "Can I fuck my mate, or do you have more questions about my moral compass?"

Despite everything, I laughed.

Then he pushed inside and the laughter died in my throat and turned to moaning. 

This time was different. Slower. No urgency, no claiming venom burning through my veins. Just the slide of our bodies and the steady pulse of the bond connecting us.

He took his time, learning what made me gasp, what made my nails dig into his shoulders. Methodical and thorough like he was memorizing every response.

"Tell me something," he said against my throat. "Did Kieran ever make you feel like this?"

"No."

"Did he learn what you liked? Take time to make you scream?"

"No." My nails scraped down his back. "It was always fast. Selfish. Over in like five minutes."

"Pathetic." He changed angles and hit something that made stars explode behind my eyes. "Now you're mine. Now you get to feel what it's like to be properly worshipped."

He spent the next twenty minutes proving his point, building my pleasure until I was begging, making me wait until I was practically sobbing. Only then did he let me come.

The orgasm tore through me, through both of us. I felt his release, neither of us sure whose pleasure was whose anymore. Caspian came seconds after, his release triggered by mine, both of us crying out.

We collapsed together, sweating and breathing hard.

"I could get used to this," I admitted.

"You will." He kissed my shoulder. "Because this is your life now. Wake up. Fuck. Kill people who threaten us. Fuck again. Repeat forever."

"So romantic."

"I'm being honest." He pulled out and I made an embarrassing whimpering sound. "Now get up. We need to eat, check in with David, and figure out our next move before Marcus sends more hunters."

Reality crashed back like cold water.

Right. Marcus. The bounty. The breeding program. All the very good reasons yesterday had turned into a bloodbath.

I forced myself to sit up, ignoring my body's protests. "What's the plan?"

"Short term? Don't die. Long term?" His expression turned lethal. "Kill Marcus. Burn down his entire operation. Make sure nobody ever threatens you again."

"That's going to start a war."

"Good." He pulled on pants, tossed me clean clothes. "I haven't had a proper war in decades. I'm overdue."

"Good." He tossed me clean clothes. "I haven't had a decent war in decades. I'm overdue."

Right. I felt his anticipation. He was actually looking forward to this. To the violence. To proving he was the biggest predator in the food chain.

And God help me, part of me was looking forward to it too.

We got dressed and headed to the kitchen. Caspian moved around like he'd done this a thousand times — pulling out eggs, starting coffee, completely at ease.

"You cook?" I asked.

"I survive. There's a difference." He cracked eggs into a pan. "David usually handles meals when we're at his place, but I can manage basics without burning everywhere down."

My phone buzzed on the counter. The one from yesterday that I'd completely forgotten existed.

Seventeen missed calls. All unknown numbers.

"Don't answer those," Caspian said without looking up. "Marcus trying to reach you. Kieran's friends. People you don't want to talk to."

I put the phone down, but it immediately buzzed again.

This time with a text message.

Unknown: He can't protect you forever. 50 million is a lot of motivation. Sleep well, Rielle.

My blood turned cold.

Caspian was there in an instant, reading over my shoulder. His rage flooded through the bond — hot, violent, barely controlled.

"They're threatening you in my safe house." His voice was eerily calm. "They're actually that fucking stupid."

"How did they even get my number?"

"Marcus has resources." He grabbed his own phone, fingers flying. "But so do I."

His phone rang two seconds later. David's voice came through the speaker, dry and amused. "They're getting bold."

"Trace it," Caspian ordered.

"Already working on it. But Caspian — there's something else. Something you need to know."

"What?"

"Marcus put out a second bounty. Not for Rielle." David paused. "For you. Dead only. Hundred million."

The kitchen went dead silent.

"He's trying to remove you from the equation," David continued. "Figures if you're dead, the bond breaks, Rielle's vulnerable again and someone else claims her."

"The bond doesn't break with death," I said. "Caspian told me — "

"It doesn't fully break. But it weakens. Enough that another lycan could claim her if they moved fast enough." David's tone turned grim. "Marcus is betting someone will take that risk for a hundred million."

Caspian's hand found mine, gripping tight. Through the bond, I felt his fury and something else.

Fear.

Not for himself. For me. For what would happen if he failed to protect me.

"How many takers?" Caspian asked.

"So far? Twelve confirmed. All high-level hunters. Some are lycans, which is the real problem. They know what they're up against."

"Names."

David rattled them off. Each one made Caspian's jaw tighter.

"We're going hunting," Caspian said when David finished.

"Caspian — "

"They want me dead? Fine. Let them try. But I'm not sitting here waiting for them to come to us." He looked at me. "You're staying here. Locked down. Full security."

"No." The word escaped before I could stop it. "I'm not sitting here waiting to find out if you die."

"Rielle — "

""The bond goes both ways, remember?" My voice was shaking but I kept going. "If you're in danger, I feel it. If you get hurt, I feel it. If you die —" I couldn't finish that sentence. "I'd rather be there. Fighting with you. Than sitting here feeling you die through the bond while I can't do anything about it."

Silence fell.

Then David's voice: "She's right. The bond makes separation dangerous. If you go down, she'll feel it and be vulnerable here alone. Better to keep her with you."

Caspian looked at me for a long moment. "You understand what you're asking? I'm going to kill people today. Probably a lot of people. And you'll be there watching."

"I watched yesterday."

"That was self-defense. This is preemptive hunting." His eyes were solid silver now. "This is me being the monster everyone's afraid of."

Through the bond, I felt what he wasn't saying. He was worried I'd see him at his absolute worst and realize I'd made a huge mistake. That the claiming would start feeling like a traap instead of protection.

I stepped closer, put my hand over his heart. "I've already seen the monster. I let him bite me anyway. So show me what happens when someone's stupid enough to threaten what's yours."

His smile was all teeth and violence and dark promise.

"As you wish."